Subsidised nannies for shift workers a Budget win

POLICE, nurses, firefighters and other shift workers will be given access to Government- subsidised childcare payments to use nannies under a $ 250 million trial program to be revealed in the federal Budget.

The Abbott Government has approved the trial use of subsidised nannies for 10,000 low to middle incomeearning families in the first stage of a major overhaul of the childcare system.

Government assistance will be provided to families through an hourly subsidy for each child for the use of a nanny already employed by an approved and existing service provider.

But the trial will be limited to shift workers such as police, nurses, ambulance, firefighters and those who cannot access normal day care services.

It will also target regional and rural families and be restricted to low to middle income earners.

It will be limited to families with a combined annual income of $ 250,000 and the payments made directly to the service provider would be tapered according to income levels. The trial, to be unveiled today by Social Services Minister Scott Morrison, will run for two years after which the Government will assess whether it is sustainable.

The Interim Home Based Carer Subsidy Programme will be included in the May Budget and will cost $ 246 million over two years starting from January 1 next year. The use of nannies is believed to be part of major reforms to child care which will include the streamlining of the existing childcare subsidy model which will abolish the childcare rebate and bring the two- payment system into a single subsidy – a measure also expected to be announced in the Budget.

“Key workers … are too often cut off from government support for their families to access child care because of the nature and hours of their work,” Mr Morrison said.